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Biodiversity is the variation in living organisms, viewed within a given habitat, ecosystem or in the world as a whole. The concept is usually applied to the species diversity, although the notion of genetic biodiversity is applied to the variation in genes within an individual species. While most people think of rainforests as loci of great biodiversity, biomes such as oceans and grasslands are the likely repositories for even greater variation. Retention of diverse biota is important, since intact ecosystems are thought to be essential for provision of ecosystem services to humans, including maintenance of a diverse foodbank, pollination, clean water, flood control, pest control, waste decomposition, biomass energy resources and climate stability. Biodiversity is presently critical since we live in the era of the Mass Holocene Extinction, a period of species loss caused by man, and unrivaled in rate of species loss. Although the number of total species numbers in the tens of millions, most have not yet even been described. The extinction of a species is almost always related to destruction of habitat or man-made pollution.

• Featured Article Flora of Napa County, California

  Napa County is a small county in northern California encompassing nearly 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares), about 0.5 % of the landmass of the state. It is located 25 miles (40... More »

• Featured Article Northern California coast

  The Northern California coast section encompasses diverse topography including mountains, hills, valleys and plains in the Northern California Coast Ranges and small parts of... More »

• Featured Article Belizean pine forests

  The Belizean pine forests on Central America's northwestern Caribbean coast represent various relatively well preserved fragments of vegetation as well as a considerable abundance... More »

• Featured Article Habitat fragmentation

  Habitat fragmentation involves alteration of habitat resulting in spatial separation of habitat units from a previous state of greater continuity. ... More »

• Featured Article Review: Forest restoration

  This Review, written by Raf Aerts and Olivier Honnay*, appeared first in BioMed Central Ecology—a peer-reviewed, open access journal. This review article is part of the... More »

• Featured Article Indigo hamlet

  The indigo hamlet (scientific name: Hypoplectrus indigo) is a member of the grouper/seabass family (Family Serranidae) that live on coral reefs in the Western Atlantic Ocean... More »

• Featured News Catching a Coral Killer

  First ever case of human-caused marine disease. Catching a Coral Killer Coral reefs play an important role in marine ecosystems, so it's concerning to scientists,... More »

• Featured Article Herbivore

  Introduction A herbivore is an animal that obtains its energy and nutrients by feeding on plants.  Different types of herbivores eat different plant parts.  For... More »

• Featured Article Phrynocephalus

  Phrynocephalus (Toad Headed Agamas) is the genus of Agamid lizards first described by Kaup in 1825. It includes over 40 species of small and medium sized lizards characteristic... More »

Recently Updated

Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands Last Updated on 2012-05-25 at 12:04 Deep Kalahari sands occur in a wide belt along the Angolan-Namibian border across to Zimbabwe, supporting dry deciduous forest dominated by Baikiaea plurijuga. The hot,... More »

Zambezian halophytics Last Updated on 2012-05-25 at 11:48 One of the largest saltpans in the world, the Makgadikgadi Pan complex in Botswana stretches out over 12,000 square kilometers (km2). Surrounded by the semi-arid Kalahari... More »

Habitat destruction Last Updated on 2012-05-25 at 09:56 Habitat destruction is the alteration of  a natural habitat to the point that it is rendered unfit to support the species dependent upon it as their home territory. Many... More »

Ecoregions of Oklahoma (EPA) Last Updated on 2012-05-25 at 09:26   Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve... More »

Oak Last Updated on 2012-05-25 at 01:05 Oaks are trees and shrubs in the Fagaceae family, which also includes beeches, chestnuts, and chinquapins. The genus of oaks, with the scientific name Quercus, is broadly... More »

Zambezian flooded grasslands Last Updated on 2012-05-24 at 19:35 Located within the miombo and mopane woodlands of the Central African Plateau, Zambezian flooded grasslands are an anomaly of productivity and abundance in a landscape... More »

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